Category: Desktop software

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Google has released a new version of Chrome (32.0.1700.76) for Windows, OS X and Linux that brings with it some useful new features, such as showing activity of multimedia status on tabs, supervised users and special mode for Windows 8.1.

We often have dozens of tabs open on your browser and then one of them starts playing a sound and we have no idea which one is responsible for it. With the latest update, Chrome will now show a speaker icon on any tab that is currently playing a sound, so you know where to go to mute that annoying sound. It will also show a red dot if a tab is using your webcam and a blue rectangle if a tab is casting to your TV connected to a Chromecast. Read more »

It’s no secret that Windows 8 hasn’t exactly been a resounding success. So what’s the best way to fix a failed OS? Start over. That’s what Paul Thurott, a Windows news maven, believes will happen in April of 2015 with the release of Windows 9.

Thurott believes that Microsoft’s Build 2014 developer conference will see the announcement of Windows 9 this April, with the release of the OS set for the following year.

Windows 8 came under a lot of fire for its wild redesign. The Start menu’s absence being the most notorious omission from Microsoft’s new OS. Well the beloved Start menu should be making a comeback in Windows 9, and it’s rumored that it may return even as early as the Windows 8.1 update. Read more »

Microsoft has released its ‘Project Siena’, which allows you to create your own Windows app without any hassles. The Windows 8.1 app is designed to help also those enthusiasts who would love to build an app without any programming skills.

The new project from the Redmond giant is focused on creating relatively small applications with high visuals, images, shapes and buttons. Read more »

Twitter has updated its Mac application to v3.0. The latest version of the popular social networking client now comes with a refreshed design, which changes the overall look and feel of the app.

Twitter for Mac 3.0 also comes with visual and engaging timelines. You can now preview the photos in the front and center and you are just a click away from seeing the details of the image. Read more »

Google has updated its Calendar service with a couple of new features that can really help you get more organized. First off Google Maps lends a helping hand and you will now receive auto-complete location results when filling the location of events.

Once the event has been created the users you’ve invited will have a click on the map option, which will show them exactly where the event will be held instead of wondering where to go. Read more »

The official CyanogenMod installer was pulled out of the Google Play Store. The app was voluntarily removed after the Google Play Support team contacted CyanogenMod that its creation was violating the store’s terms.

The app specifically violated the Google Play Store Terms of Service by encouraging users to void the warranty of their devices, despite being harmless in its nature. Read more »

Adobe switched to a subscription model for tis Creative Suite earlier this year, renaming it Creative Cloud. It was pricy – up to $50 a month for the whole suite. Now there’s a promotion that will allow you to pay only $10 a month for Photoshop CC, Lightroom 5, Behance ProSite and 20GB of cloud storage over the next year.

Previously, the $10 a month deal was only available for people who owned Photoshop CS3. Read more »

One of the most popular music player of all time will be gone for good next month. AOL has announced that it will be shutting down the iconic Winamp player on December 20, following which you won’t be able to download it again or get any further updates.

Winamp has been available for Windows since 1997 and was one of the most popular music players back then. Not only was it insanely customizable, thanks to support for a myriads of plugins and skins, it was also known for its superb audio quality among audiophiles. Read more »

As promised, the developers from CyanogenMod Inc. released an installer to help users with flashing the company’s popular Android ROMs on their device. The app is currently available for free in the Google Play Store.

The app requires companion desktop software which is available to download on Windows PCs for free. Read more »

You may have noticed that after the latest major Google Maps update for desktop browsers, an important figure suddenly went missing: Pegman. This move made many users frustrated by their inability to quickly access Street View and nearby images by dragging the icon onto the map, and more than a few people opted to continue using Google Maps’ classic view.

Now, the latest update brings back Pegman, and makes viewing images, panoramas, and even indoor areas even easier by having all of them appear on the map whenever you grab hold of Pegman. Read more »

Apple recently made its iWork suite of applications, including Pages, Numbers and Keynote, along with the iLife suite of apps including iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband free for buyers of new Macs. However, if you’re using a counterfeit version of these applications on your Mac then now there is a way you can update to the latest legit version right through the Mac App Store.

Call it a bug or a feature, but if the Mac App Store detects an older version of Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband or even the $79.99 photo editing application Aperture, it will tell you that an update is available for download in the Mac App Store, regardless of where you sourced the app from. Once you update, the application is permanently associated with your Apple account and can be downloaded for free from Apple any time you want, just like any other app you bought. Read more »

The current stable version of Google Chrome has two modes under Windows 8. On the desktop mode, it runs the same way it does on Windows 8. In the new Modern UI, it is again basically the same app, but running in a permanent fullscreen mode instead.

Google has been playing around a bit with the browser and how it works under this mode in Windows 8 and you can see that in the latest developer build. The latest update essentially turns Chrome into Chrome OS that runs within Windows 8, complete with a new UI and its own app drawer. Read more »